Form 1041 for Deceased estate (Not required?)

[magellan0]

Hi Experts,

I am the court appointed probate admin of my brother's  estate. He died in Jan 2022. And in 4/2022 I filed a 1040 as his personal representative using TTAX. And on the personal 1040 form is was marked *Deceased*

This is now year 2024 and I was just appointed as the offical admin and I open a EIN for the estate.

Based on reading  the IRS form 1041 instructions  the estate did not have any gross income of $600 or more in CY 2020 and CY2023.

Thus please concurr I have no need to file 1041.

However, the lawyer for the Probate is asking me the filing date of 1041...I think i will just give them the filing date of the personal 1040 and that 1041 is not required.  This is part of the closing out the probate...

Please review the above if this is accurate and any addiortnal guidance that I should be made aware of...

Thanks in Advance...:-)

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

Because the estate income exemption is $600, there is no need to file Form 1041 for an estate tax year where there was less than $600 of gross income.

The lawyer might just be asking for the end date of the estate's income tax year.  The estate's income tax year (calendar or fiscal) is not established until the first Form 1041 is filed (even though the application for EIN might ask the question).  The choice of tax year end date depends on how and when income might be passed through to estate beneficiaries for taxation on the beneficiaries' tax returns instead of at the higher estate tax rates.  Choosing a fiscal tax year instead of a calendar tax year can move the income from one year to the next on the beneficiaries' tax returns because income passed though on a Schedule K-1 (Form 1041) is reported on the beneficiary's tax return for the year that contains the end date of the estate's tax year.

The personal tax return has little to do with the estate probate process because it reports in the period before death.  Only any tax balance due paid by the estate or the refund due to the estate from the personal tax return needs to be accounted for in the handling of the estate.  Other details from the final personal tax return are probably not relevant to probating the estate.

[magellan0]

@dmertz  Many thanks for your well written answer(s)  Thanks for supporting the community...:-)

All the Best!